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Twenty times more plastic goes into the ocean every year than is now floating on the surface. To locate this 'dark plastic', oceanographer Erik van Sebille makes a three-dimensional map that shows where plastic is in the ocean. To do so, he created the software , an online open code that everyone can download and use. The software has developed into a real community code.

To build trust with the community, you must first give people access to the development of the code.

"You cannot create a code, present it to the world, and expect it to be used. Such an approach lacks the concept of co-ownership. To build trust with the community, you must first give people access to the development of the code," says Van Sebille. Many people have since begun contributing to the code, which is getting better and faster as a result. "Together you have more eyes: people help fixing bugs or do something you can't do. Last week I received an e-mail from an Australian who rewrote part of the code, making it four times faster now. Isn't that fantastic?"

Career

Van Sebille is also convinced that this open way of working has helped advance his own career. "I’ve regularly received requests from researchers who wanted to use the code, but didn't know how. Then I went to work on their data for them and became co-author of many papers. That helped enormously to make a name for myself in this field of research. At the same time, it also increased trust in the software among the scientific community."  

This case is part of a longread about open science.

Read more about making a community code.